The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is getting a big lift in air power.

A new helicopter went into service Oct. 19 and another is being prepared to join the fleet in the next few weeks, expanding its helicopter force from four to six, said Sgt. Adam Vallejo of the sheriff’s aviation unit.

“It’s going to do tremendous work for us,” Vallejo said. “Definitely the public’s going to benefit.”

The department has had four helicopters to cover its more than 7,000-square-mile territory of vast open deserts, the rugged San Jacinto Mountains and part of the Santa Ana Mountain range. They assist authorities on the ground with chases, searches and also help with rescues.

Before August 2014, it had a fifth chopper, but a sheriff’s pilot crashed it during a low-flying training exercise at Hemet-Ryan Airport. No one was seriously injured, but the chopper was totaled.

That left the department with four helicopters: three Airbus AS350 B3s and one 1969 Bell OH 58 A+, a smaller aircraft with a two-blade propeller and limited capabilities.

The chopper was used in the Vietnam War – and still has bullet holes in the body to prove it.

Since the crash, the department has had only two helicopters with full capabilities most of the time. One is usually grounded for maintenance and the OH 58 – the oldest unit in the fleet – can’t fly at night or perform rescue missions, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Mike Vasquez said.

One helicopter is usually in the air, leaving one at the hangar on standby, Vasquez said. That can be a problem if more than two calls come in that call for sky power, he said.

The department has six full-time pilots and one part-timer, so staffinghas not been the problem. The new helicopters will allow the fleet to immediately serve up to five calls at the same time, even with one grounded for maintenance, Vasquez said.

The most common incidents calling for a copter are police chases, missing person searches, hiker rescues, foot pursuits and SWAT situations. Because the Sheriff’s Department serves the entire county except for a handful of cities with their own police departments, it’s not unusual for more than one of those things to be happening simultaneously, Vasquez said.

When that happens, sheriff’s officials must choose which incidents will get helicopter support and which will have to wait, Vasquez said.

Flying the new helicopters – both AS350 B3e models – won’t require any additional training because they are very similar to the AS350 B3s already being used, Deputy Tony Bowen said. But the new copters have some much-needed souped-up features, said Bowen, who is a pilot.

Motors on the new helicopters have 950 horse power, which is 100 more than the other three, Bowen said.

“That’s a big difference, especially at higher altitudes where the air is thinner,” he said.

The new units cost $5.2 million each, paid for mostly came from the county’s general fund. Insurance money from last year’s crash covered part of the cost of one helicopter, Vasquez said.

Officials aren’t sure when the sixth helicopter will be ready to fly, but it was being painted last week in San Diego County, officials said.

Sometime after the new chopper joins the fleet, the department will be down to five helicopters because the old OH 58 A+ is in line for retirement.